Mitt Romney Quits!
The Republican Candidate from Massachusetts Ends His Nomination Bid
Courting conservative votes will now be mandatory for the Senior Senator from Arizona after conservative Republican candidate Mitt Romney suspended his presidential bid.
Kevin Madden of the Romney campaign posted on the Mitt Romney for President website: “Today, addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Governor Romney announced that he was suspending his presidential campaign for the sake of Republican unity….” Romney said in his speech; “If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country." However, whether unity or disharmony will result is yet to be seen.
Money
“Money can’t buy you love” or a vote. According to the Federal Election Commission’s Campaign finance reports and data, Romney gave his campaign $35 million dollars. Thomas Burr of the Salt Lake Tribune reported Romney also received “…$55 million more in donations.” Open Secrets.org reports that Mitt spent (as of Super Tuesday) “$86,068,239.” He ultimately received 293 delegates according Stephen Ohlemacher of the Associated Press, which gave him a Gramm-o-meter* value of $294,000 per delegate.
Candidates that were struggling (McCain and Huckabee) did far better on the Gramm-o-meter. John McCain has 703 delegates and spent $38.2 million for $54,000 per delegate and Mike Huckabee has 190 delegates on $7.1 million spent for a value of $37,000 per delegate. Ultimately, it appears, voters care less about the economics of a candidate but rather the candidate’s culture - his policies. Dr. David Landes, a professor emeritus from Harvard University said: "If we learn anything from…economic[s it]…is that culture makes all the difference.”
Conservative Right
The right wing of the Republican Party is now in a quagmire. Their champion has withdrawn. There is such conservative disdain for the remaining two candidates (omitting libertarian Ron Paul) achieving Romney’s desire for “Republican unity” may be very difficult.
- Huckabee:
Conservative Columnist Ann Coulter said in her December 2007 column: “As far as I can tell, it's mostly secular liberals swooning over Huckabee. Liberals adore Huckabee because he fits their image of what an evangelical should be: stupid and easily led.”
Rush Limbaugh said on his national radio program on January 15, 2008; “I understand what you're saying….I'm here to tell you, if [Mike Huckabee]** get[s] the nomination, it's going to destroy the Republican Party, it's going to change it forever, be the end of it. A lot of… [Republicans] aren't going to vote. You watch.”
- John McCain
As bad as it is, the conservative right has really targeted McCain. CNN reported on Feb.1: “In the latest sign that a conservative backlash is starting to build against John McCain, conservative commentator Ann Coulter said Thursday she is prepared to vote for Hillary Clinton over the Arizona senator in a general election match up. Speaking on Fox's ‘Hannity and Colmes,’ Coulter took aim at the GOP frontrunner, and suggested he was little more than a Republican in name only.”
CNN continued Rush Limbaugh said: "He is not the choice of conservatives, as opposed to the choice of the Republican establishment….”
In a conversation with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich on Fox News’ Hannity and Colmes show February 6th, Gingrich said: “If [McCain] doesn't find a way to build a bridge to the conservative movement, I think it will be very hard for him this fall to have a successful campaign.” Hannity responded: “What are conservatives going to vote for Hillary? There's a possibility they can stay home.”
But as the Republican frontrunner, McCain is trying to attain the party harmony Romney wanted. Carl Campanile of the New York Post wrote: “Just hours after Romney announced his departure, McCain appeared before the CPAC…For many at the conference, McCain was not their preferred choice for president.”
* Gramm-o-meter is the money a candidate spends per delegate won, in honor of Phil Gramm, the former Texas senator.
** Limbaugh implied John McCain in this same statement.
